Tomorrow, April 30, 2008 is 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins.  Find your local Baskin Robbins ice cream store here.

Just a reminder for everyone that today is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry’s! This means waiting in a short line for a delicious ice cream cone.  Locate your local scoop shop store here.

Recently I have become semi-addicted to Potbelly Chocolate Malts.  (Is it possible to become semi-addicted?  That’s beside the point…).  Potbelly chocolate malts are just the right thickness and have just the right amount of malt powder.  There’s something about the taste of malt powder where you can easily have too little or too much; and the Potbelly malt lands right in between.
The thickness of the malt is also excellent.  It takes some effort to suck it up through a straw, but not too much effort.  Again, they’ve achieved that critical balance.
Oh, and who can forget the cookies?  Two minature shortbread cookies on the straw, mmm tasty.
My only complaint is the size.  It’s a smaller size cup, but it’s still too much.  After finishing an entire malt I feel like I’ve eaten way too much.  I need about three-quarters of the current size.  That would be the right amount.  I realize I could throw it away after I’ve eaten 3/4; but wouldn’t that be a waste??

• Flavor: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 2
• Overall: 4
• Cost: $2.86 at Potbelly

Well, I finally found it: Outstanding plain chocolate ice cream. Haagen Dazs’ new “reserve” line has produced at least one amazing flavor: Amazon Valley Chocolate. This ice cream is very very chocolatey. (It’s more of a dark chocolate than a milk chocolate.) It’s smooth and it’s rich. It’s so rich that it’s actually difficult to eat a lot in one sitting (which is probably good since it’s not the healthiest ice cream.) One of the scoops I had before finishing the pint I drizzled with melted peanut butter– I would highly recommend this. But, this ice cream doesn’t need the peanut butter to taste good. It is wonderful on it’s own. Go out and buy some before they discontinue it, trust me. (Hopefully they won’t discontinue it, but if it’s truly good amazon cocoa bean they use, then it could run out.)

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4.5
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 5
• Cost: $3 on sale at Safeway

I was in Chicago a few weeks ago visiting my grandparents, and we went to a wonderful French restaurant, Marche, for dinner one night. Several people got some sort of ice cream with or for their dessert and I tasted them all. My favorites were the chocolate-peanut butter and the mint chocolate chip. The chocolate peanut butter had swirls of rich peanut butter in it and the mint chocolate chip was very very crisp and refreshing with fresh mint. The plain chocolate was kind of bland and the butter pecan was decent. If you get a chance to visit Marche, try the chocolate peanut butter ice cream. You won’t regret it.

Haagen Dazs is having a free scoop day tomorrow, May 15 of two of their new flavors.  Find a shop near you. Unfortunately, there’s not one close to me so I won’t be making it out.

Recently I’ve been asked by a number of people what my favorite ice cream is. I can never seem to list an absolute favorite, but here are my 5 favorite ice creams.

1. Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. I can’t think of an ice cream that I enjoy more than Cherry Garcia. There’s just something about it that I absolutely love.
2. Oreo at Sebastian Joe’s in Minneapolis, MN. This ice cream is hands down the best Oreo ice cream I’ve ever eaten. I doubt if I will ever find an Oreo ice cream that’s more flavorful and rich than this one is. If you get a chance to visit Minneapolis (especially during the summer) head over to Sebastian Joe’s get a scoop of Oreo and walk around the lakes.
3. Homemade Easy Cocoa chocolate ice cream. I adore chocolate, yet somehow most chocolate ice creams don’t live up to my expectations. This ice cream recipe is incredibly easy to make and buying the incredibly is cheaper than buying a carton.
4. Brown Bread Ice Cream at Murphy’s Ice Cream in Dingle, Ireland. Brown Bread ice cream is extremely unique and wonderful. Plus, I have fond memories of wondering the streets of Dingle, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
5. Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean. Everyone needs a favorite vanilla; Breyer’s “all natural” vanilla was mine for a long time, until they started adding Tara Gum. Now, I choose the more fattening, but actually all natural, Haagen Dazs vanilla bean.

This post was published in conjunction with Problogger’s “Top 5″ group writing project. Check it out for other list’s of top 5’s.

I hope that everyone enjoyed their free ice cream cone at Ben and Jerry’s Free Cone Day.

Following in their footsteps, Baskin Robbins is having a 31 cent scoop night on May 2, 2007. It’s in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Mark your calendars!

Today from 12 noon until 8pm you can get a free scoop of Ice Cream at your local Ben and Jerry’s.

Be sure to stop by and pick one up!  You can find your local shop here.
Also, if you’re feeling generous, put a few dollars in the bucket for whatever charity they’re raising money for at your location.

I’ve been craving Frozen Yogurt recently so we headed over to Thomas Sweet on P St in Georgetown.  I haven’t been there in awhile and last time I was there I remember trying the Oreo Frozen Yogurt.  This time I decided on something different- Snickers.  Since it was fat-free (I’m really not sure how this is possible, but I’ll trust them on it), I went for the “blend-in.”  Guess what I choose to blend it with?  That’s right, chunks of Snickers bar.  Thomas Sweet’s blend-ins are amazing. This one in particular.  It had a lot of snickers, without being overly sweet.  It was extra creamy.  And it was gigantic.  Luckily there were two of us (though it could have easily served 3).  Next time I’m in the mood for frozen yogurt I’ll definitely be going back over to Thomas Sweet.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 4.5
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $5.05

Last night I had a phenomenal topping on my vanilla ice cream—Bailey’s Irish Cream.   I wanted ice cream but wanted something more than just vanilla.  We had some Bailey’s in our fridge and I went for it.  It was amazing.  Just a few tablespoons full and you’ve got yourself an adult dessert.  I let the ice cream melt a little bit and mixed the two together; I suppose I could have blended it into a shake.  Maybe next time…

While it’s now February and 2006 seems like long ago, I don’t think it’s too late for this post. After reviewing my 100+ ice cream reviews from 2006 I have compiled the following “Best of” list:

The Best:

Best Vanilla: Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean
Best Chocolate: Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie
Best Homemade: Homemade Easy Cocoa Ice Cream
Best Fruity: Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia
Best ice cream for an emotional eating binge: Ben and Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie
Most Unique: Coconut Avocado (Homemade)
Best Local Ice Cream (outside of DC): Oreo Cookie at Sebastian Joes (Minneapolis, MN)
Best Local Ice Cream (in DC Metro Area): Oatmeal Cookie at Dairy Godmother (Alexandria, VA)
Best International Ice Cream: Brown Bread at Murphy’s (Dingle, Ireland)
Best Deal: $2.08 for World Class Chocolate at Baskin Robbins

And the Worst:Worst “Improvement”: Tara Gum in Breyer’s Natural Vanilla (Check out the comments here, here, and here)
Worst Low Fat Flavor: Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked Frozen Yogurt
Worst High-Fat Flavor: Haagen Dazs Peaches and Cream
Worst Fruity Flavor: Breyers Very Cherry Chocolate
Worst Flavor Idea: Ciao Bella Green Tea with White Chocolate

I’d love to hear other flavors that made (or broke) your 2006!

Check back on Monday.  I have compiled a best and worst list of ice creams in 2006.

When it’s someone’s birthday you get them the kind of birthday cake they want. But, if they ever request an ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins I recommend that you flat-out refuse. I don’t remember the last time I had such bad cake. The ice cream itself, which is rolled up into the cake was good, but the cake just made it not worth eating. We got a mini-roll cake with mint-chocolate-chip ice cream. The fudge covering the cake was the only thing worth salvaging.

• Flavor: 3
• Flavor Intensity: 3
• Texture: 1
• Originality: 4
• Overall: 2.5
• Cost: $7.95

Wow.  That’s about all there is to say about pumpkin spice ice cream at Maggie Moos.  Generally, I’m not a huge fan of Maggie Moos.  They’re hit or miss and very overpriced.  But, Pumpkin Spice was amazing.  It was intensely spiced and the pumpkin flavor was present but not overwhelming.  And Graham crackers mixed in proved to be a great combination.  This is a seasonal flavor so go out and get some before it’s gone.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 4
• Overall: 5
• Cost: $5.05